1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to mobile applications. More specifically, it relates to an application or intermediary used to share a single contact list (and contacts therein) between a plurality of mobile devices.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
With the growing popularity of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, the ability to have access to the information stored on such mobile devices is becoming increasingly important and needed by end-users. Backing up information onto external hard drives and cloud-based servers has become commonplace for end-users to secure or protect information contained on a mobile device in the event that that mobile device is stolen, malfunctions, or is otherwise compromised.
Traditionally, though, backed-up information can be loaded onto an electronic device, such that any user of that device can access that information. For example, if an end-user loses a mobile device, the end-user purchases a new mobile device and downloads the information that was backed up from the original mobile device. Any user of that new mobile device, however, can access that downloaded information.
More specifically, contacts and contact information are stored on a mobile device and are backed up regularly. Contact information is vital to a user's ability to contact other individuals, as users are becoming less likely to memorize contact information, such as phone numbers, when contact information is so readily accessible on the user's mobile device. If a user wishes to access the user's own contact list on another mobile device, the user could erase all contact information stored on the other mobile device and download the contact list from the backup server onto that other mobile device. However, one can see how this methodology would become problematic when that other mobile device belongs to a third party that is distinct from the user.
Currently, the conventional art fails to provide any manner of sharing contact lists between two (2) or more distinct mobile devices securely and effectively. If a user wishes to access the user's own contact list on a third party's mobile device (with authorization from the third party), that third party should also be prevented from accessing the user's contact list on the third party's mobile device without authorization from the user, but the conventional art fails to teach this aspect as well. In this case, only the user should be authorized to access the user's contact list on the third party's mobile device, but the conventional art has taught away from this methodology by extensively teaching methodologies that simply back up information onto external hard drives and cloud-based servers, as discussed previously.
Accordingly, what is needed is a secure method of sharing contacts between two (2) or more distinct mobile devices. However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the field of this invention how the shortcomings of the prior art could be overcome.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate disclosure of the invention, Applicants in no way disclaim these technical aspects, and it is contemplated that the claimed invention may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.
The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.
In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge, or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.